


Avatar: The Final Fusion

by EmilyArmadillo



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (just in the sense that fusions have extra limbs), Aang (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Gems (Steven Universe), Bending (Avatar), Body Horror, Canon Rewrite, Canonical Character Undeath, Friendship, Gem Fusion, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Injury, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Moral Dilemma, No Romance, Order of the White Lotus, Sozin's Comet, Team as Family, chakras
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:16:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28654116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmilyArmadillo/pseuds/EmilyArmadillo
Summary: Moonstone. Quartz. Sunstone. Amber.Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the Avatar, a fusion of all four gems, could stop them, but no amber remained to form them. A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the last amber, Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to fuse with anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Toph Beifong, Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Team Avatar - Relationship, Toph Beifong & Katara
Kudos: 26





	Avatar: The Final Fusion

**Author's Note:**

> This AU fuses (pun not intended) the concept of benders with the concept of gems. For the purposes of this fic, gems are a type of human that also has gem powers.

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the Avatar, a fusion of all four gems, could stop them, but no amber remained to form them. A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the last amber, Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to fuse with anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world._

* * *

After they escape Prince Zuko's ship on Appa, Katara broaches what she's been thinking since Aang climbed out of the iceberg and she saw his gem.

"Aang, you realize, if you really are the last airbender, there can be an Avatar again. You can be a part of them."

Aang faces away from her, resting his chin on his arms. Katara can't see the golden triangular gem on his forehead, but she knows that the tattoo that traces up the back of his head ends in it. Aang watches the clouds.

"I've never even though about fusing before," he says. "I'm still just a kid."

"But Aang, the world's been waiting for an Avatar to finally put an end to this war."

Aang sighs. "And how am I going to do that?"

"Well," Katara says, "an Avatar is made up of a moonstone, quartz, sunstone, and amber that all fuse, right? So you need to find a waterbender, earthbender, and firebender you can synchronize with."

Aang looks at Katara over his shoulder. "Right," he agrees hesitantly.

"Well, you've already said you'll take me to the North Pole." Katara smiles, and Aang smiles back.

"You can learn waterbending, and I can find a waterbender!" he realizes brightly.

"Then we're in this together," Katara agrees.

* * *

Aang points to the statue at the Southern Air Temple. The gray stone figure is of a monk with a long mustache sitting with eyes closed and fisted hands pressed together in meditation. The back of one hand has a raised surface, sculped to represent a gem.

"This is Monk Gyatso! The greatest airbender in the world." Aang tells Katara and Sokka. "He taught me everything I know." He bows to the statue, smiling as he recalls a happy memory. His lips fall as something else occurs to him. "He was part of an Avatar once," he adds.

"Did he ever tell you about it?" Katara asks hopefully.

"I don't know. Not really. " Aang sighs, and Katara puts a hand on his shoulder.

"You must miss him."

"Yeah."

Aang lets himself be distracted by a flying lemur, dashing after it as it bounds down hallways and around corners. Aang follows it through a curtain and stops short. The snow here lies around and atop the deeply helmets of Fire Nation soldiers. Aang gasps. Gems don't leave bodies behind, but somehow he can tell that there are shards somewhere under the snow.

There's one other piece of clothing in the snow, the yellow robe of a monk tangled with the necklace and medallion of an elder. Unable to stop himself, Aang walks to it and crouches. He gently pats the snow below and near the garment until he feels something. He pulls them out of the snow carefully: five golden pieces of amber that he can fit together to form one triangular gem with lines pointing to the center from which it was irrevocably shattered. He holds it to his chest as he starts to cry.

* * *

"I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges- I had to open my brain to the possibilities. And it didn't hurt that once you took off your shirt, I could see your quartz." The King of Omashu snorts with laughter. "Bumi," Aang says, "you're a mad genius."

"Oh Aang," Bumi says, hugging him, "it's good to see you." He releases Aang and studies his face. "I knew airbenders weren't gone from the world for good. The fortune tellers in my kingdom have all seen that there will be an Avatar again. But I never imagined it would be you."

Aang scratches the back of his head self-consciously. "Me neither," he says.

Katara and Sokka interrupt for help and Bumi uses earthbending to free them. Sokka regards the king grudgingly. "Why did you do all of this instead of just telling Aang who you were?"

Bumi grins, showing missing teeth. "First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people! But I do have a reason. Aang, you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. Fire Lord Ozai must be defeated to restore balance to the world. You'll have to gather allies from every nation to form an Avatar who can confront the Fire Lord. And when you do, I hope you think like a mad genius.

There's something else. Another vision seen by the fortune tellers, top secret." Bumi beckons Aang closer theatrically before continuing. "The vision is of a comet. One hundred years ago, Fire Lord Sozin used that comet to begin the war. He and his army harnessed its incredible power, and dealt a deadly first strike against the other nations."

"What does the comet have to do with the War now- or in the future?" Aang asks.

With growing solemnity, Bumi puts his hand on Aang's shoulder. "Aang, Sozin's comet will return by the end of the summer. Fire Lord Ozai will use its power to finish the war once and for all. If he succeeds, even an Avatar won't be able to restore balance to the world. You must defeat the Fire Lord before the comet arrives."

Aang jerks back, stunned and afraid. Katara and Sokka share expressions of horror. "But I haven't even fused once yet, much less formed the Avatar!" Aang exclaims.

"I know," Bumi says with sympathy. "You have much to do. But I believe in you."

"You could help me," Aang suggests desperately. "You could be the Avatar with me, and we'd only need to find moon and sunstones!"

Bumi looks sad for his old friend. "Our friendship was very strong, Aang, and you may be right that we could synchronize. But that is not my destiny. This war will be ended and balance will be restored by people like you, young and brave."

"I understand," Aang says, although he slumps with disappointment. "Thank you for your wisdom."

Bumi pats his shoulder one last time. "Continue your journey. You'll find whom you need."

* * *

"What's bugging you anyway?" Sokka asks with his arms crossed. Aang stops pacing long enough to answer.

"It's what King Bumi said. I'm supposed to be able to synchronize with benders of all three other elements before that comet arrives, and we're still weeks away from the North Pole. What am I gonna do?" He begins to pace again, but Katara stops him with a hand on his arm.

"Calm down. It's going to be okay. If you want, I can show you some of the forms I know. That will make it easier to synchronize with a waterbender, won't it?"

Aang brightens. "Yeah! You'd do that?"

They set Appa down on the edge of a beautiful river with pouring waterfall. Aang and Katara stand in the water. The air is warm. When she's not wearing a coat, Katara's cloudy blue moonstone is clearly visible, nested in the dip between her collarbones.

Katara starts by showing off how she makes waves. "This is a pretty basic move," she narrates, "but it still took me months to perfect." Aang watches carefully and begins mimicking her.

"Like this?"

"That's almost right."

Aang adjusts, and his movement becomes just like Katara's. They flow through the motion together, although only Katara actually bends the water into a wave.

Next she shows Aang how she can stream the water up from the river and have it flow through the air. Aang changes from one stance to the next fluidly. "Nice work," Katara says when she checks on him.

"I just keep shifting my weight through the stances, right?" Aang asks, completing another repetition.

"Right," Katara says, smiling. "You'll be able to synchronize with a waterbender in no time." She looks away, fixing her hair, and then asks, "What do you think they'll be like?"

"The moonstone aspect of the Avatar? I don't know," Aang muses. "I was kind of hoping that…" He kicks his foot in the silt at the bottom of the river before he admits, "I know Bumi said that the Avatar will be all young people, but if they were already a waterbending master, that would… they would have all that experience."

"I understand," Katara says empathetically. "It would be a relief. Someone else could lead the quest to save the world."

Aang nods sadly. He's lost the levity that playing in the water gave him. "I'm just one kid. I can't do everything."

Katara puts her hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard now, but when you form the Avatar, you'll be one of four. There'll be people there with you, supporting you. I'll be there, too. And until then- I think you make a pretty great leader. You'd make a good waterbender, too."

* * *

_The prince is thirteen, and eager to prove himself. He looks dignified, for a child, but still has to turn his face up to look at the guards at the entrance to the war room._

_"Let me in!" Zuko demands. His eyebrows pull down low above his right eye and the gem he has in place of the left- an orange stone with red flecks in the shape of a single lick of flame, tapered end tilted back towards his temple._

_His uncle lets him attend the meeting, although he has wished every day since that he done differently. That, somehow, he had prevented his brother from challenging his nephew to a duel._

_"You will learn respect," Ozai says, "and suffering will be your teacher."_

_Iroh doesn't watch Ozai deliver the final blow. He hears decisive footsteps as Ozai leaves, and opens his eyes. As the other spectators disperse, Iroh enters the Agni Kai ring. As gently as he can, he picks up the sunstone into which his nephew had retreated, which the boy's father had left on the floor. It burns Iroh's hand. He turns the gem over; relief swells in him when he verifies it is complete. A single sign of damage is a branching line thinner than a hair, a stress fracture from the heat of the fire. But Zuko will reform._

_Zuko does. But he looks different now. The fracture on his gem manifests a scar on his form, a patch surrounding his gem that's reddened as if the sunstone could stain the skin around it with its color._

* * *

Katara, Aang, and Sokka collapse in their quarters after a long, disappointing day in the Northern Water Tribe.

"So how's waterbending training?" Sokka asks, trying to get his mind off of Princess Yue.

Katara scowls. "Master Poophead won't teach her because she's a girl," Aang explains. He's spent all day learning waterbending forms with Master Pakku's students. "And he says my technique 'doesn't remotely resemble real waterbending, much less synchronize with it'. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to fuse with that grumpy, sexist jerk."

"There are still the other students, right?" Katara points out.

"Yeah," Aang says in a monotone, "I guess. I just didn't feel it with any of them, either."

Sokka throws his arms up. "If you're going to talk about gem stuff, I'm out of here. Talk to Katara."

The two gems go outside and Aang tries to show Katara the forms he's learned.

"Master Pakku said this move is all about sinking and floating," Aang says, flowing through the motions. "The water's supposed to stream up and follow around this way…"

"You look like a real waterbender to me," Katara says. She copies Aang and the water bends as he described, if a little shakily.

"Yeah!" Aang encourages. He stands closer to her and they do the motion together, mirroring each other, and the water flows more smoothly, a strong ribbon moving through the air. They're both smiling, and Katara touches Aang's hand with hers-

Suddenly the water is ripped out of Katara's control and spirals upward, to where Master Pakku stands watching them. He crystalizes that water to shards of ice.

"I was just showing Katara a few moves," Aang says, uncomfortable in the face of Pakku's anger.

Master Pakku doesn't soften. "You are no longer welcome in my class or near my students." He turns without another words and walks away from them with a loud finality. Katara watches him go with such ferocity that it shouldn't surprise Aang when the next morning, she challenges Master Pakku to a fight.

* * *

Later, a formidable enemy holds aloft the sack in which he's captured the spirit of the moon.

"Don't bother," Admiral Zhao says. He positions his fist inches from the squirming form of the moon spirit, and his sunstone is visible on the back of his hand, reflecting the bloodred light from the moon above.

"Zhao, don't!" Aang says, as he, Katara, and Sokka lower their weapons. He explains that all of the nations would be hurt by the moon's death, and Iroh threatens Zhao if he should hurt the spirit, and for the briefest moment they seem to have changed the admiral's mind. Zhao returns the fish to the oasis pool, where Tui immediately returns to its dance with La. Then, Zhao strikes.

The moon disappears from the dark sky. Bright bursts of fire light up the oasis as Iroh attacks the Fire Nation soldiers. He defeats them, but Zhao escapes. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Princess Yue join Iroh at the edge of the pool.

"There's no hope now," Princess Yue says. "It's over."

Aang looks in the direction of the Fire Navy ships that continue to lay siege to the tribe, and then rests his gaze on the ocean spirit alone in the water, its dance frantic since the loss of its partner. "No," Aang says. "It's not over." He looks at Katara, and nods.

Aang steps into the pool. Without hesitation, Katara follows him into the water. La circles around Aang and Katara as they rotate, moving through a waterbending form at just the same pace. When they touch their fingertips together above the fish, they fuse.

Maybe it should have been obvious from the moment Katara pulled Aang out of the ice that she was meant to be a part of the Avatar, but it took them the whole way up from the South Pole to consider it. But now that they had, nothing was easier than fusing with their best friend. The become one form, and Aang's gem darkens and Katara's lightens until both are translucently green. One-half of the Avatar stands in the pool of the moon and ocean.

"Selenite," Iroh breathes in awe, recognizing the fusion of amber and moonstone.

It's said that fusion, especially fusions of three or more gems, brings gems closer to the spirits, even allowing them to speak to them. Selenite, formed of only two different gems, does not have this power, but when Selenite bows and looks into La's eyes, there is an understanding between them. La gives Selenite the ability to waterbend despite the black and moonless sky, and with this, Selenite defends the Southern Water Tribe.

Selenite flows through the canals of the city, clearing firebenders off the streets and bridges with vast waves of ocean water. They bend the water into shields that defend them from fireballs and into blades that strike cleanly through the metal of Fire Navy ships. With great swells of water, they hurl the ships back out to sea.

Then, above them, the sky changes. The moon has returned to its rightful place, its white glow a sign of a sacrifice given elsewhere. Selenite senses their ability to waterbend given by the moon has returned and feels La's gift recede like a tide. All at once, Selenite feels exhausted from everything they've done. They return to the edge of the city, which is no longer surrounded by metal ships. On the snow-packed battlements, Aang and Katara unfuse. They sigh, relieved and tired.

"Thank you," Aang says.

Katara looks confused. "For what? We did that together." She pointed at the last damaged Fire Navy ship trying to get underway and retreat.

"From the moment I learned I was the last airbender, I knew I'd have to be a part of an Avatar, and part of this war. You were just looking to learn waterbending. You didn't have to do that. And… you don't have to do it again."

"Of course I did, and of course I will," Katara disagrees firmly. "We're in this together, Aang."

Aang smiles widely. "You mean that?"

"Absolutely. Now, you and I are going to find an earthbender."

* * *

Neither Aang nor Katara feel a connection to anyone at Master Yu's Earthbending Academy. Not ready to give up on the town of Gaoling, they decide to try something different.

Earth Rumble VI has no shortage of earthbenders: Xin Fu, The Boulder, The Hippo, The Gopher, The Gecko, on and on. Katara starts to think they've made a mistake. While they're seeing some impressive earthbending (and Sokka is enjoying himself), she can't see herself synchronizing with someone who frequents these underground prize fights. Nevertheless, they stay until the champion comes out.

"She can't really be blind. It's just part of her character, right?" Katara asks unsurely.

"I think she is," Aang says as the girl in the arena teases her opponent. Her confidence seems unfounded when she stands there, so short and young, but when the match starts it's clear she's not overestimating herself. Within minutes The Boulder lies groaning on the floor.

"How did she do that?" Katara wonders.

"She waited," Aang says. "And listened. We need to talk to her." Katara nods in agreement and a moment later Aang steps into the ring with the Blind Bandit. Aang's disappointed when he wins their bout without getting a chance to talk to the girl. The next day, they go looking for her. And they find her.

Aang tries to explain to the Bandit that he had a vision in a magic swamp, but Katara shushes him. "What Aang is trying to say is, he's the last airbender. He and I are two parts of the Avatar, and if we don't find a quartz soon, we won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord."

"Not my problem," the Bandit says. A few hours later, they try a different approach. Dinner is far from a success, but afterwards Toph takes Aang for a walk through the garden. Toph walks along the stone side of a bridge, in her pajamas and barefooted. Aang sees her gem, a solid square of dark green on the top of her right foot.

"I see with earthbending," she explains as she walks. "It's kind of like seeing with my feet. I feel the vibrations in the earth, and I can see where everything is."

"That's amazing," Aang says.

"My parents don't understand. They've always treated me like I was helpless."

"Is that why you became the Blind Bandit?" Aang asks, because he understands that it is. After days of watching earthbenders earthbending, Aang has begun to worry that none of them were enough like him to fuse with, that none of them had the spirit that the airbenders had, that Teo at the Northern Air Temple had as well. But here was Toph. So maybe earthbenders could crave freedom, too.

"Yeah," Toph says.

"Then why stay here when you're not happy? You could come with us."

"Yeah. You guys get to go wherever you want," Toph says, wistfully. "No one telling you what to do, that's the life. It's just not my life."

Aang thinks he's lost, that Toph will stay here, and he and Katara will have to find someone else. That's how it would have been, if he and Toph hadn't been kidnapped.

Even after exchanging Toph for her ransom, Xin Fu plans to hand Aang over to the Fire Nation. Katara and Sokka face all of Earth Rumble VI. Katara turns to Toph.

"Toph, there's too many of them. We need an earthbender. We need you!"

Toph's father is stunned and angered by the suggestion. "My daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile. She cannot help you!"

Toph pulls away from him. "Yes, I can."

Back at the estate, Toph tries to explain herself. "Dad, I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way. But the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting. I love being a gem! And I'm really, really good at it."

Her father is horrified. As the airbender and his friends be escorted out, Aang looks at Toph over his shoulder, sure they've just lost their best chance at forming the Avatar.

"You'll find a quartz," Sokka says later, trying to cheer them up. "There are plenty of earthbenders out there."

"Not like her," Aang says. He's in low spirits as they prepare to leave Gaoling. He's thrilled when Toph appears, ready to travel the world.

* * *

"Aang, I could use a little earthbending here. Go get Toph."

Aang crouches down next to Sokka's head, which is protruding from a crack in the ground. "I can't do that," Aang says unhappily.

"You can't? Why not?"

"It would just be really uncomfortable."

Sokka raises his eyebrows. Dryly, he responds, "Well, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"Thanks, Sokka," Aang says distractedly. "The whole earthbending thing really has me confused. Katara's doing fine, but I can't get any of the forms Toph's shown us. I don't know why it's so hard for me. It puts me in a really awkward position."

"Awkward position, I think I know the feeling." As Sokka rolls his eyes, the baby saber-tooth moose-lion walks over and starts sniffing at Aang while making adorable noises.

"Awww," Aang says, picking up the pudgy cub. "What are you doing out here little guy? Did you lose your mama?" He's hardly finished the question before he hears the roar of the mama- a full grown sabre-tooth moose lion with horns as long as his arms and antlers as tall as his body. The baby wags its tail.

"Hey there, we found your cub!" Aang says nervously, placing the little animal on the ground. It trots to its mother and runs into the bushes behind her. The mother continues glaring at them, not convinced by Aang's insistence that they're friendly.

"Aang, this is bad," Sokka says. "This is really bad!"

The moose-lion charges, its huge paws kicking up dry dirt as they thump on the ground. Aang airbends, spiraling his arms to lift the beast of the ground, and Sokka shrieks as the moose-lion's claws barely clear his head. It growls, paws at the ground, roars. When it charges again, Aang stands strong and blows wind directly onto its front. This time when it's pushed away, it retreats. Aang's relieved until he hears clapping. He finds that Toph is sitting on a nearby rock.

"What?" Aang exclaims. "You were there the whole time? Why didn't you do something? You could have gotten Sokka out and helped us get away!"

"Guess it just didn't occur to me." Toph jumps down from her rock, landing solidly on both feet. "Are you ready now?"

"For what?" Aang asks, frustration becoming confusion.

"Fusion, Twinkle Toes. You just stood your ground against a crazy beast. That's what an earthbender would have done. You've got stuff."

"But-"

Toph cuts him off with a sharp gesture, then lowers into an earthbending form. Aang looks at the sky in frustration briefly before copying her. He follows her through a serious of movements, all of them steady and strong. Their fits meet in the middle. A glowing light spreads out form there, covering both of them and then morphing into a single figure. Sokka, who's been watching with amazement, makes a face like he's just been made to suck on a frog.

"Oh, woah," the fusion says, looking down at themself. Unlike Selenite, their form isn't totally humanoid, which is what has perturbed Sokka. They have two pairs of legs, one set of which has Toph's gem, which is now lightened to a glittering light green, and stands firmly on the ground. The other two legs hang on either side of the torso. "Uh, how should I…" the fusion mutters, moving them around. Then they cross the second pair as if in a meditative position, resting them on the front of the other pair's thighs. "That works, I guess."

"I'm really glad you've found a place to put your second pair of legs, but could you get me out of here, Aang, Toph, whomever you are?" Sokka asks.

"No problem, Sokka," the fusion smirks, and stomps the ground to earthbend the rock under him up to the surface. "And the name's _Opal_."

* * *

Aang is energized when he thinks he sees Appa above them, but when he realizes it's just a cloud, his posture sinks back into despair. Katara's disappointed too, but at least Aang is back with the group instead of flying around the desert by himself. They need to stick together to get out of here.

"Aang, we could fly up there and bend the water from that cloud into my pouch," Katara suggests.

Aang nods sullenly. He moves through the waterbending stances like a ragdoll, but they still manage to fuse. Selenite summons Aang's staff from inside his gem to Sokka's drunken amusement, and opens the glider. They fly through the cloud twice to siphon its water, then land back on the sand and inspect what they've collected through the opening of the pouch.

"There's hardly any in there," they say. Then they add, suddenly, "It's a desert cloud, I did all I could! What's anyone else doing!" Selenite breaks apart abruptly, leaving Katara holding the water pouch and making Aang land on his butt in the sand. He holds his staff out accusingly. "What are you doing?"

Katara looks away as she closes her pouch. "Trying to keep everyone together."

* * *

Katara stands against the outpouring of muddy water and rocks from the drill, holding it back singlehandedly with her bending until Toph comes.

"You need some help?" Toph asks.

"Toph," Katara says gratefully, "We need to plug up this drain. Fuse with me!"

Katara can't pause holding back the slurry, but Toph walks around her, morphing her usual, straightforward way of moving into the fluid motion of a waterbender, and finally placing her hands on Katara's shoulders from behind. The fusion forms without letting up on the drain. In one moment Katara is holding back the muddy mixture and in the next, Aventurine raises her second pair of arms. Her combined ability to water- and earthbend pushes the slurry all the way back up into the huge machine, wrestling against the strength of the internal pipes.

"Good technique," Sokka encourages. "Keep it up, little sist- uh, little half-sister?"

"Not helping, Sokka!" Aventurine yells back. The drill groans with building pressure. At the front of the machine, a pipe is overwhelmed and slippery mud bursts up across the top of the drill where it meets the wall of the Impenetrable City.

Sokka peeks around the side of the drill to watch the cascade of slurry and sees Aang running up the wall. When he reaches the top, he directs the earthbenders defending the city to target one spot on the top of the drill. They throw down a huge boulder that hits the Fire Nation's machine with a sound of reverberating metal, then a second, then a third. The drill shutters, steams, groans, and collapses.

"Here it comes," Aventurine shouts. She grabs Sokka's arm and earthbends a rock pillar under both of them to raise them above the flood of slurry that gushes from the destroyed drill.

"We won!" Sokka celebrates, pumping his fist in the air.

Aventurine crosses their arms, which, with four, creates a complicated knot. "What did you do?"

"Well, I, uh…" Blushing slightly, Sokka puts his hand on one of Aventurine's shoulders and says, "Good job, Team Avatar."

* * *

Team Avatar splits up: one to meet with her mom, one to meet with his dad, one to help the Earth King, and one to go to the Eastern Air Temple. The letter the Dai Li found on Appa's horn only says that the Guru has information for those trying to form a new Avatar; hopefully he'll teach Aang what he knows so he can bring the knowledge back to the others.

"You're Guru Pathik, right? The person who attached the note to Appa's horn?"

Guru Pathik is skinny and bearded, with skin that appears as weathered as the rock on which he sits in a meditative position. He doesn't seem to be a gem. "Indeed," he says. "I was a spiritual brother of your people and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso."

Aang, startled to hear his old mentor's name, sits down in front of the man. "In your note, you said you could teach us about being an Avatar. My friends couldn't come, but I'm here to learn."

"Becoming an Avatar is a difficult journey. It is not a simple task to find gems from each nation that can all four synchronize with each other, nor is it easy to learn to wield that combined power. In the past, although few people sought to become part of an Avatar, there was usually at least one Avatar, or former members of an Avatar, alive to guide them."

"And there aren't any, now?" Aang guesses sadly.

"It is true," the Guru agrees, "the last time there was an Avatar was before your own birth; the fusion was no longer possible once Master Roku passed. Master Sud, Master Ote, and our friend Monk Gyatso have passed as well. But I knew the Avatar, and until you can speak to them yourself, I believe I can give you some of their wisdom."

Aang had hung his head as he remembered Monk Gyatso's death, but raises his head in confusion to ask, "Speak to them myself?"

Guru Pathik chuckles. "Yes, Aang. You are aware that fusion creates a connection to the spirits?"

Aang nods. "When I was fused with my friend Katara, Selenite was able to communicate with the ocean spirit. Well, they almost were. Sort of."

"That is typical of a fusion of two different gems. A fusion of three different gems may be able to speak with spirits directly. An Avatar, and only an Avatar, is able to enter the spirit world. They are also able to speak to past Avatars."

Aang is wide eyed. "We'll be able to do that?"

"Yes. But first you must become an Avatar. To bring balance to the world, you must all four of you be in balance together.

"Chakras are pools of spiraling energy in every person's body. Each chakra has a purpose, and can be blocked by a specific kind of emotional muck. Opening the chakras is an intense experience. To be a stable fusion, all of the Avatar's twenty-eight chakras must be opened."

"Twenty-eight!" Aang exclaims. Guru Pathik scratches his beard.

"Well," he says, "twenty-eight total. Seven each." Aang relaxes slightly. "Once you begin opening your chakras, you cannot stop until all seven are open," the Guru continues, "or you will not be able to form fusions at all. You will need to not only open your own chakras, but be prepared to teach your friends how to open theirs. Are you ready?"

Aang breathes deeply, preparing himself. "I'll do whatever it takes."

* * *

"Something's not right," Zuko says. He's correct. The Earth King is not coming to their tea service. Instead, the Dai Li enter. Then, Azula. Zuko jumps to his feet. The hat he wears pulled down over his gem comes off as he does; no matter, they've already been recognized.

"Have you met the Dai Li?" Azula asks. "They're earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's _so_ sunstone. I just love it."

Iroh rises slowly to stand next to his nephew. He holds a cup of steaming tea. "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'The Dragon of the West'?" he asks calmly.

"I'm not interested in a length anecdote, Uncle," Azula says dismissively, barely looking at her prisoners.

"It's more of a demonstration, really," Iroh says, and drinks from his cup. Zuko smirks knowingly. The years they spent in exile together and, even more so, the weeks they've spent here building their lives here in the Earth Kingdom have made Zuko well able to predict how Iroh will arrange their escape. Zuko takes his uncle's hand.

Zuko had started to understand something, as he burned with fever in their apartment in Ba Sing Se after setting the airbender's bison free. Something about right and wrong and his nation and the world that he hadn't seen before, but Iroh had. This new perspective is why, although they never had before, they fuse.

The fusion has two sunstones, Zuko's in place of the left eye and Iroh's on the chest, between the lungs. Both gems glow as Sunstone releases a breath of fire, pushing back the Dai Li agents surrounding him. He makes a break for it, running straight through a hole he blasts in the wall with a swell of fire, dodging the earthbenders' projectiles.

To destroy the next wall in his path he summons lightning, blue strokes that pulverize it. It's a two story fall to the courtyard outside. Sunstone stops at the ragged opening.

"I'll be fine," he says.

"I'm tired of running," he also says.

The fusion splits. Iroh appears closer to the ledge, his feet slipping, and he falls. He lands on the ground, crushing one of the king's topiaries to a mess of snapped sticks. Zuko remains above, looking behind him.

"Zuko! What are you doing? Come on!" Iroh yells up to him.

"No!" Zuko shouts back. "It's time I faced Azula!" He puts his back to his Uncle and walks to face his sister.

* * *

Zuko changes his mind. With Azula and the Dai Li, he faces Aang and Katara.

"There's too many," Aang realizes. "I'm sorry, Katara," he whispers, and does the last thing Guru Pathlik told him he must: let her go.

Aang's seventh chakra unblocks. Energized, he summons his glider and flies over the underground pool towards Katara, shouting her name between blasts of fire, lighting, and rocks that come at him from below. He lands next to her and they grasp hands, fusing immediately. Selenite rises on a swirling tower of air and water, both of their gems glowing brightly. The smile hopefully, and briefly. Then Azula's lighting strikes.

She's aimed for their head. They're thrown backwards off the tower, which splashes to the ground as so much rain when Selenite looses concentration. They flip, head over heels, the ground approaching quickly. Katara barely manages to bend water under her to cushion her fall.

Katara raises herself to her knees, disoriented. She's not even sure when exactly Selenite unfused. "Aang," she says, "where's… oh no." She spots a glint of amber lying in a puddle several yards away, reflecting the green glow of the caves crystals. She uses waterbending to pick it up in a bubble and pull it towards herself, holding it tightly against her chest as Zuko and Azula approach her.

A blast of fire blocks their way. Iroh jumps down from above, putting his back to Katara and facing his niece and nephew. "You've got to get out of here," he says. "I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

Numbly, Katara lifts herself up the waterfall, and in the city above, finds Appa.

"Where's Aang?" Sokka asks as she climbs into the saddle.

"Lift off," Katara says hoarsely.

"Oh no," Sokka whispers, seeing that she holds his gem. Shakily, he climbs to the bison's head to do as he's told. The Earth King and his bear give Katara space.

"What is it? Where is he?" Toph asks from where she clings to the saddle's handholds. Her voice is demanding with frustration, but quiet with fear.

"He's- he's cracked. But I can… fix it," Katara says thickly. She can see clearly now that the gem is split cleanly into two pieces. A fatal fracture. She matches the two halves and holds them together with her fingers. She summons the vial of Spirit Oasis water that she's had stored in her gem and opens its. She bends the spirit water out and with great care flows it into the crack that spikes down the center of the amber. The water glows and disappears, and then the gem glows and then fades. It's in one piece now, whole.

"Did it work?" Sokka asks softly, coming up behind his sister to put his hand on her shoulder.

"I think so," Katara says, wiping her face. "We just need to wait for him to reform."

* * *

No one is present when the gem starts to glow. It's alone in a room in the depths of the ship. The amber rises into the air and streams light that shapes itself into Aang. When he's fully formed, his feet hit the floor, which is cold. Groggily, Aang walks around himself. "What happened?" he wonders, just as he focuses on a Fire Nation flag hanging from the wall in front of him.

Anxiously, he summons his staff and holds it as he takes off into the hallway, looking for a way up and out. On the stairs up to the deck, he trips and falls flat. He tries to regain his footing, and is distracted by a lemur climbing onto his head. Distracted, and confused. "Momo?"

Toph and Katara run over from the railing, exclaiming, "Aang! You're back!"

"I'm back?" he echoes. Katara hugs him.

"You are," she says. "It's been weeks, but you finally reformed." She regards him and smiles. "I like your hair."

"I have hair?" This surprises Aang as much as anything else. He feels the top of his head. His fingers skim over his gem and he pauses, feeling the thin line down the stone's center, like a scratch. He must touch it in the wrong way, because a sense memory surfaces behind his eyelids, and he feels the moment he was struck. The moment he broke. He lowers his hand.

"I wasn’t just cracked, was I?" Aang says in awe. "It was worse than that. I _fractured_. But you brought me back."

"I just used the spirit water from the North Pole. I don't know what I did exactly."

"You saved me," Aang says, quietly grateful.

"I'm just glad we were able to keep you safe until you reformed," Sokka says, giving Aang another hug. He explains how they captured a Fire Nation ship to disguise themselves, and the new plan for the invasion. "And the best part is, the eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage!" Sokka leans in to Aang. "We have a secret… you! The whole world thinks you shattered!"

Aang is stunned. "How is that good news?" he stutters. "That's terrible!"

"It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore," Sokka points out.

"No, no, no, no, no," Aang says. "This is so messed up." He walks to the railing and looks out at the ocean, holding his head. Only Katara follows him.

"I understand why it bothers you," she says, looking uncomfortable herself. "You don't want people to think we failed."

"But everyone thinks there are no more amber- for real this time," Aang says, distressed. "They think there's no hope of an Avatar saving them and, they're right. We're losing this war, and letting the whole world down."

"There's still a plan, Aang. The invasion. We'll still save the world. We're not to blame for how the world is. Only for how it's going to be." She squeezes his shoulder. "Don't give up."

"I won't," Aang says tearfully and turns his face into Katara's shoulder.

"Are you done with the touchy-feely talk, or should I come back," Toph asks, appearing beside them.

"I'm good," Aang says, wiping his face. Toph nods, satisfied, and punches Aang's shoulder affectionately. He pulls her into a group hug with him and Katara. Then, Sokka slams into them, wrapping his arms around the outside.

"Alright, Team Avatar is back!" Sokka says.

Aang squeezes his friends. "And we have a lot to do."

* * *

Sokka insists they have a long day of flying ahead of them, so Aang decides they can take time for something else. He has Katara and Toph meet him in the center of Appa's saddle and starts to explain about chakras. Katara seems to respond well to the explanation that they're like pools of energy, but Toph appears inattentive.

"They're like… tunnels that go through you," Aang tries. "Each one can be blocked by a certain kind of emotional rockslide."

"I get it, okay?" Toph says, flopping onto her back. She waves her hand in the air with a kind of sarcastic encouragement. "Keep going."

Aang breathes, then recites what Guru Pathik told him. "First is the Eartch Chakra, located at the base of the spine. It deals with survival, and is blocked by fear. Ask yourself what you're most afraid of."

Katara, who sits with her eyes closed, furrows her brows with distress as she remembers holdings Aang's halved gem in her hands as she was surrounded by enemies in Old Ba Sing Se. She can't help but squint her eyes open to see that Aang's in front of her, safe.

Lying on her back, Toph tenses. She remembers being in the desert, her vision blurred by loose, useless sand, under attack by flying creatures that were totally invisible to her. She flattens her palms and the soles of her feet against the saddle, trying to see better, trying to convince herself that being on Appa was any less terrifying than that memory.

"Your vision isn't real," Aang counsels them in a calm voice. "You are concerned for your survival, but you can surrender your fears, and let them flow away." If Aang pays attention, he can see the moment Katara and Toph open their chakras, because each one cleared is a feeling of relief, and he sees the relief in their bodies.

"The second chakra is the water chakra. It deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt. What do you blame yourself for?"

Katara hugs herself. "I couldn't protect you," she whispers, remembering when Zuko defeated her at the North Pole to capture Aang. Then she thinks of more recently, when Ty Lee defeated her in seconds in the palace of the Earth King. "I couldn't protect the Earth Kingdom."

"Accept the reality that these things happened, but do not let them cloud and poison your energy," Aang recites. "If you are to be a positive influence on the world, you need to forgive yourself." Katara nods and exhales, and opens her water chakra.

"The third chakra is the fire chakra," Aang continues, "in the stomach. It deals with willpower and is blocked by shame. What are your biggest disappointments in yourself?"

Toph rolls on her side and reaches past the edge of Appa's saddle to feel his fur. She doesn't say anything, but Aang can tell she's thinking of when they lost Appa to the sandbenders. Aang's supposed to have given up his guilt already, but when he sees Toph contemplating her failure, he feels ashamed of himself for yelling at her on that day, even though she'd clearly done her best. He's not sure if the guru is allowed to apologize during a chakra-unblocking, but he can't help himself.

"I shouldn't have blamed you when Appa was taken," he says. "It wasn't your fault. I'm sorry." Then, more formally, he adds, "And, uh, you will never find balance if you deny this part of your life."

Toph smiles. "Thanks, Twinkle Toes."

Aang smiles too, then tries to get back on track. "The fourth chakra is… the air chakra," he says. "It's in the heart. It deals with love and is blocked by grief." For a moment, Aang feels exposed, but he swallows and finishes, "Lay all your grief out in front of you." Katara's lip quivers as she thinks of her tribe, tiny and broken by the war, and most of all her mother. Aang wants to hug her but tries to remind himself that today, he is her guide. "Love is a form of energy," he tells her, a little choked up. "The love of… people we've lost as not left this world. It's still inside of our hearts, and is reborn in the form of new love. Let the pain flow away." Katara wipes tears away from her eyes without opening them. Aang surreptitiously wipes his nose on his sleeve.

"The fifth chakra is the sound chakra," Aang says, "in the throat. It deals with truth and is blocked by lies." Toph laughs once. She's not known for being truthful. She lied every day of her life about who she was, just to keep her parents happy, and when she did tell them the truth, they refused to hear it. Whatever; it's not _their_ chakra, it's Toph's. And she knows the truth.

"Accept your own nature," Aang says, although he can sense that Toph already has. He takes a deep breath. They're almost through to the end. "The sixth chakra is the light chakra, in the center of the forehead." Unconsciously, he touches his gem. "It deals with insight and is blocked by illusion. The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation, like of the four nations. We are all one people, but we live as if divided. Everything is connected. Even the separation of the four elements is an illusion; they're four parts of the same whole."

Aang hesitates before beginning the final chakra. This is where he messed up; what if he can't guide his friends through it? What if this was a mistake? He reminds himself that fear is one of the emotions that blocks the chakras, and breathes deeply.

"The seventh chakra is the thought chakra, located at the top of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy, and is blocked by earthly attachment. Meditate on what attaches you to this world. Now, let them go."

As Aang had been, his friends are startled by this command. "What? Just like that?" Toph asks, sitting up.

"Why would we do that?" Katara asks, opening her eyes and frowning with confusion.

Aang draws his knees up and rests his chin on them. "I had trouble with this one too," he confides. "If love is the good part of the air chakra, how can it be the bad part of the thought chakra? But I've thought about this a lot.

"Letting go of fear doesn't mean not being afraid. Letting go of guilt doesn't mean pretending you've never made mistakes. So letting go of attachments doesn't mean you can't have any; it means you can't let your feelings overwhelm you, or guide you when there's a better way to make a decision. You- you can't let the rockslide block the tunnel, but you don't have to pulverize every rock. Just… move them out of your way." Aang looks at Katara and Toph and is a little surprised that they both look understanding.

They unblock their seventh chakras.

Katara squeezes Aang's shoulder. "You're a good guru, Aang." Aang smiles.

"Can you all do your magic gem stuff reeeeeally magically now?" Sokka asks from across the bison. "Because whoopee for you guys."

"I bet we can," Aang answers, looking at Sokka over his shoulder and then turning back to the girls. "What do you think?" Toph and Katara hold his hands and each other's, making a triangle.

The fusion is faster and easier than they've experienced before, aided by how balanced they each feel. They stand high above Sokka, four-legged like Opal and four-armed like Selenite. Their gems are green with streaks and swirls of white like foam on ocean waves.

"Oh," Sokka says.

"I'm called Seraphinite," they tell him.

* * *

On the day of black sun, Seraphinite faces Azula and Zuko faces his father. He summons both his swords from his gem. "I am going to speak my mind, and you are going to listen." Zuko tells the Fire Lord what he learned about the history of their nation and their family, and then he tells him what he's decided about the future. "After I leave here today, I'm going to free Uncle Iroh from his prison and I'm going to beg for his forgiveness." Unconsciously, Zuko brings one hand in front of his heart, where the second gem had been when he and Iroh had formed Sunstone. "He's the one who's been a real father to me."

Fire Lord Ozai laughs at this. "Oh, that's just beautiful. And maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure."

Zuko ignores the taunt. "But I've come to an even more important decision. I'm going to join the airbender and together we're going to defeat you."

Ozai smiles, sneering. "Since you're a full-blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless. You've got your swords. Why don't you just do it now?"

Zuko doesn't rise to the bait. He holds his sword blades together and returns them to his gem. "Goodbye."

* * *

Zuko raises his arm unsurely. "Hello. Zuko here."

Sokka raises his sword and Aang summons his staff. Katara grabs Aang's and Toph's hands and they fuse into Seraphinite. Zuko regards the eight-limbed gem in alarm, raising both hands in surrender.

"I know you must be surprised to see me here…" he says.

"Not really," Sokka says, "since you've followed us all over the world."

"Right. Well," Zuko scratches his head. "Uhh, anyway, what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed, and I, uhh, I'm good now, and, well, I think I should join you, and we could form an Avatar."

Sokka and Seraphinite are shocked. Seraphinite exclaims, "You want to _what_ now? You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?"

"All you've ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang!" Sokka says. He tries to put his hand on Seraphinite's shoulder to stress his point, but can't reach high enough.

"I've done some good things!" Zuko says. "I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something!" Appa licks him from behind, and he jumps.

Seraphinite frowns. "Appa…" they start to say. The corners of their mouth lower further and a second later they split into Selenite and Toph, at whom everyone looks curiously.

"I'm just saying, Appa does seem to like him," Toph says, crossing her arms.

"I'm not buying it," Selenite says.

"I can understand why you wouldn't trust me," Zuko tries, "and I know I've made some mistakes in the past…" But whatever he says, he can't seem to turn the conversation around. Sokka delivers an ultimatum.

"Either you leave, or we attack."

Zuko deflates. "If you won't accept me as a friend, then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner." He spreads his arms wide, making himself vulnerable. One good strike from Sokka's sword would dissipate him, and they could do with his gem what they pleased.

"No, we won't," insists Selenite. "Get out of here."

Zuko does so, pitifully. "Obviously he wants to lead us into some kind of trap," Sokka says.

"This is just like when he was in prison with Katara in Ba Sing Se. He starts talking about his mother and making it seem like he… like he has feelings," Selenite says, looking down.

Sokka puts a hand on Selenite's shoulder as he addresses them. "He wants you to trust and feel sorry for him so you let your guard down, then he strikes."

"It worked," Selenite admits. "I did feel sorry for him. And… remember when you and Katara were sick and Aang got captured by Zhao? When Zhao had Aang chained up, it was Zuko who came and got him out. He risked his life to save me." Selenite closes their eyes, and unfuses.

"I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself," Katara tells Aang. "He's such a liar!"

"Actually," Toph puts in, "he didn't lie." The others aren't impressed. "I'm just saying, considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could have turned out a lot worse." Katara, Sokka, and even Aang remain angry.

"Why would you even try to defend him?" Katara demands.

Toph growls in frustration. "Because, Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact: We need a sunstone to form the Avatar! We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job, now one shows up on a silver platter, and you won't even think about it?"

"I'm _not_ fusing with Zuko," Aang says.

"I couldn't if I wanted to," Katara agrees.

* * *

After Zuko tries to protect them from Combustion Man, Aang, at least, is willing to change his mind.

"I think you are supposed to join us," Aang says. "And I think if you want to fuse with me, we could try."

Relieved and grateful, Zuko bows. "Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."

"Not so fast," Aang says, holding up his hand. "I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them." Toph and Sokka are both willing. Aang approaches Katara. She glares at Zuko piercingly.

"I still don't think he'll have any synchrony with us," she says slowly, through gritted teeth. "But if you want to try… I'll go along with it."

Aang smiles and squeezes her shoulder. Zuko grins. "I won't let you down!" He says. "I promise!"

* * *

"We could turn back now," Aang suggests hesitantly, in the courtyard far below the caves of the firebending masters. "We've already learned more about fire than we'd hoped." He points at the flame Zuko holds.

Even with a solution to the weakness in his firebending, Zuko doesn't feel like they can leave without seeing this through. "No," he says. "We're gonna meet these masters and find out what's so great about them."

"What if they judge us, and attack us?" Aang asks, looking up nervously at the caves.

"Well, we're the Fire Prince and an airbending master. I think we could take these guys in a fight, whoever they are." With this encouragement, Aang nods. Zuko tells the Sun Warrior chief they are ready.

Aang and Zuko climb the steps. As they get higher, the sounds of the ritual are carried up from the courtyard unevenly by the wind; sometimes the booming drums reach Aang and Zuko's ears, sometimes the chanting voices. When they reach the top, the Sun Warriors go silent.

Zuko presents his fire to one cave and, feeling awkward, Aang bows to the other. Below, a Warrior blows a horn, and the sound vibrates the ground. Aang raises his eyes to the cave before him. Inside are two glowing points. Eyes.

One dragon bursts forth from each of the caves, long bodies like unwinding ribbons in red and blue. They rise and fall on their wings as they circle Aang and Zuko, twisting together and apart.

"These are the masters," Zuko breathes.

Aang speaks out of the corner of his mouth. "Still think we can take them?"

"Shh, I never said that."

For another moment, they watch the dragons' flight in silence.

"Zuko," Aang whispers. "I think we're supposed to do the Dragon Dance with them." He convinces Zuko to take the first of the firebending forms they learned in the Sun Warriors' temple. They move through each posture, their steps drawing a wide circle on the platform. The close the shape as they hit the final form, their knuckles hitting each other's. Bright light spreads from their hands across their bodies, shifting in its own dance until resolving into a single figure.

"Woah," he says softly, raising a hand to his face. He feels two gems right next to each other, eye and forehead. He can't see them, but they're both a brightly golden beryl: _heliodor_.

The dragons have finished their dance and hover, their wings beating in rhythmic synchrony. Heliodor cuts his eye from one to the other nervously. The dragons' nostrils raise as they breathe, creating wrinkles on their hugs snouts. The fangs between their parted lips are feet long, curved and sharp.

The masters land, the impact of their feet shaking the platform. Heliodor tenses. When both dragons open their mouths and breathe fire, he shields his face with his arms, only to find that the blast was not directed at him. The fire spirals around him, a vortex rising into the air. In the center, the bright flames obscure Heliodor's view of everything but themselves. Oranges and reds flow into purples and blues; streaks of white and bright green wind and climb between them.

"I understand," Heliodor says.

* * *

The day after Zuko and Katara return from tracking the Southern Raiders, Aang decides Zuko should open his chakras. Aang sits cross legged and recites what Guru Pathik told him about the flow of energy through the body.

"Is there a chakra in the stomach?" Zuko asks.

Aang looks curious. "Yeah, the fire chakra. Why do you ask?"

"Something my uncle told me once. He said that the stomach is the source of all energy in the body. He called it the _sea of chi_."

Aang smiles. "Well, Guru Pathik told me it's the site of the third chakra. You're getting ahead of me." Aang puts on a more serious expression, and Zuko closes his eye. "The first chakra is the earth chakra, at the base of the spine. It deals with survival and is blocked by fear. What are you most afraid of? Let your fears become clear to you."

Zuko cringes as the visions come to him. He sees his father, three years ago, unmoved by Zuko's pleas for forgiveness. He shivers as the vision changes to a dark sheet of ice above his head when he nearly drowned below the North Pole. And then, just days before: dueling Azula on a gondola swinging high over the steaming lake.

"Your visions are not real," Aang says, and Zuko remembers to breathe deeply like his uncle taught him. As Aang tells him to let his fears flow away, they do. "Okay?" Zuko nods. Aang continues.

"Second is the water chakra. It deals with pleasure and is blocked by… by guilt. Look at the guilt that burdens you."

As if Zuko doesn't already see it each time he closes his eye. He feels Azula's gaze on him from the right side, and hears Iroh's voice from his left. _"Zuko, I am begging you,"_ he said, " _Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want."_

"I betrayed Uncle," Zuko says softly, as he had to his sister on that day.

Unlike Azula, Aang doesn't try to change his mind. "Accept the reality of what happened," he says with gentle empathy, "but do not let it cloud your energy. If you are to be a positive influence on the world, you need to forgive yourself."

It helps that the words sound like what Iroh would say. It takes him a few moments, but Zuko opens his water chakra.

"Next is the chakra in the stomach, the fire chakra. It deals with willpower and is blocked by shame." Again, Aang hesitates before reciting the prompt. "What… what are you ashamed of?"

Zuko opens his eye and looks at Aang with a pained expression. Aang cringes apologetically. He knows it's a sensitive question. Zuko is almost tempted to give up, but he reminds himself that if he doesn't do this, he won't be able to maintain a fusion of three or more gems. The whole reason he left the Fire Nation was to form an avatar. He has to keep going.

Zuko tries to focus. "I tried to capture you. I burned down a village. I stole. I lied. I hurt… so many people." He lowers his head into one of his hands. Aang listens without judgement. Zuko can't believe he managed to fuse with the kid when Aang is so mature and Zuko's spent his life so angry and confused.

"Do you remember what you said on the day you joined our group?"

"Uh…" Zuko remembers saying some very stupid things the day before he joined their group.

"You said that everything you'd been through, you had to experience to learn the truth," Aang supplies. "That you earn your own honor by choosing to do the right thing. You can't deny a part of yourself. But you can learn from it."

Zuko nods and meditates on his own wisdom, turned back on him by Aang. A moment later he exhales, and opens his fire chakra.

"Fourth is the air chakra, located in the heart. It deals with love and is blocked by grief. Love is a form of energy; it swirls all around us. The love of people who are lost does not leave this world. It's still inside your heart, and it's reborn in the form of new love."

Zuko tries to think of his mother, but her disappearance doesn't make him feel sad; it makes him feel confused, helpless, and angry. Reaching for the concept of grief, an image comes to him: the first time he saw Iroh after cousin Lu Ten's death. They had expected that one day Iroh would come home from Ba Sing Se in victory; instead he returned to the Fire Nation in mourning. Zuko had hardly known Iroh then; he had spent so much of Zuko's childhood on military campaigns. But for some reason, when Zuko had been banished, his uncle had volunteered to be his guardian.

Zuko shifts how he's sitting, feeling frustrated. He can't find his way to his air chakra. _Uncle is better at this stuff than I am_ , he thinks. _He would understand how 'love is reborn as new love'._

Another memory surfaces. Zuko and his uncle, parting ways at the North Pole. _"Ever since I lost my son, I think of you as my own_." Zuko realizes that Aang is right. Love that is lost is found again; it happened to his uncle. And in that moment, Zuko understands how love is like air. His fourth chakra opens.

"Fifth is the sound chakra," Aang says. "It deals with truth and is blocked by lies." Zuko knows lies, like the lie that the Fire Nation is great and its war is good. When he stood up to his father on the day of the eclipse, he accepted the truth. He accepts it again.

"Sixth is the light chakra, on the forehead. It deals with insight and is blocked by illusion. The greatest illusion is the illusion of separation, like the separation of the nations, or the separation of the four elements. All are parts of the same whole."

The lies Zuko had believed as a child reinforced separation; the separation of his nation from the other nations, and the separation of his family from the forces that opposed them. The former, Zuko learned was an illusion over the course of his travels. The latter was dismantled when his uncle revealed to him that while one of his great-grandfathers led his nation to war, another opposed him as a component of an Avatar. With this insight, Zuko's sixth chakra opens.

"Last is the thought chakra, at the top of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachment. Meditate on what attaches you to this world. You must let them go to let the pure cosmic energy flow."

Zuko takes a deep breath. He left his life in the palace to be here, and he lets that part of his life feel more and more distant. He lets go of everything but their mission: bringing balance to the world.

* * *

"Gather round, Team Avatar. Today, our goal is to take down the Melon Lord. Let's see what an Avatar can do." Sokka points to the diagram he's drawn in the dirt, in which the Melon Lord faces a being with several extra limbs.

"Where are we?" Suki asks, frowning at the picture.

"For now, we're the Melon Lord's forces."

Toph looks a little jealous, but the others pull her away. They prepare to form an Avatar.

Aang, Katara, Toph, and Zuko move through the forms of their own type of bending, but their study of each other's disciplines has given them a kind of synchrony, their different styles blending in their timing and rhythm. Starting in a wide square, they move together until their hands meet in the middle: Aang's palm out, Katara's facing up, Zuko's fisted, and Toph's facing down. The edges of all four of them blur with light, and for the first time in over a hundred years, an Avatar forms.

They're much taller than a person, four-legged, and four-armed. They have three eyes, one blue pair and an orange one above them that is opposite Zuko's gem. All four gems are pure white. Sokka and Suki forget that they're supposed to be preparing projectiles for the Melon Lord's army.

"Wow," Sokka says. He's become harder to surprise with gem stuff, having become used to seeing Selenite, Opal, Aventurine, and even Seraphinite in the recent months, but at the sight of the Avatar he's in awe. Suki is even more stunned. The Avatar looks at themself in wonder, bending down to see the white gem on their foot.

"It really is," they say. "I mean, I am. _Esperite_." They straighten and flex all four hands experimentally. In sequence they create a blast of fire, burst of air, tower of earth, and lash of water. They look at Sokka and Suki, pleased with themself.

"Nicely done, uh, guys," Sokka says. He holds up a rock. "Shall we?"

"Yeah," Esperite says. "Let's."

The Melon Lord's forces start throwing rocks; Esperite redirects them with blasts of wind or strikes them into the ground with earthbending as they weave their way towards the Melon Lord itself. Suki and Sokka then attack with their own weapons. Esperite uses two arms to waterbend, freezing Suki against a treetrunk, while their other two hands raise to Zuko's gem and summon his twin swords. They strike against Sokka's sword with both of theirs. Sokka doesn't have experience fighting an opponent twice his height, but does well until Esperite stomps one of their feet and draws up one of their fists, earthbending a slab of earth up to pin Sokka's feet to the ground. Esperite swerves around him and approaches the Melon Lord, swords poised to strike. They swing the blades but stop them inches from the Melon Lord's head.

"What are you waiting for?" Sokka asks.

"I'm… ugh!" Esperite splits apart and two beings fall on their butts: Aang, and the rest of them.

Moonstone, quartz, and sunstone without amber make neptunite, a deep black gem. "What's wrong with you?" they snap at Aang. "If this was the real deal, we'd be shot full of lightning right now!"

"I'm sorry," Aang says. "It just didn't feel right."

Sokka draws his boomerang and throws it. It sinks deeply into the Melon Lord's head, making Aang flinch. "There. That's how it's done."

Neptunite stands and, with a focused breath, unfuses. Katara and Toph free Suki and Sokka. Sokka retrieves his boomerang. Zuko crosses his arms at he looks at Aang, who still sits on the ground.

"When we face my father, we have to kill him," he says bluntly. "You can't hold us back."

Aang looks conflicted. "That goes against everything I learned from the monks! I can't be a part of that."

"Aang," Katara says gently, "we understand but… according to the fortune tellers, the war can only be ended by an Avatar. And if you're not a part of us, then there is no Avatar."

Aang stands and turns away. "There's got to be another way."

* * *

Aang, Katara, Toph, and Zuko all wake up in an unknown place, a grove of trees in the middle of a sea.

"This is so strange," Aang says. "How did we get to this island?"

"It's not an island," Toph says firmly. The others look at her with eyebrows raised.

"What is it then?" Katara asks.

Toph crouches and presses her palm to the ground, trying to extend her senses. "I think it's an animal," she says slowly.

"How can it be an animal?" Zuko demands. "You could fit a half-dozen dragons on this island."

Toph crosses her arms. "I'm telling you, it's not an island. It's. An. Animal." She stamps her foot. "This is shell. And below it- meat." She squeezes Zuko's arm to illustrate her point, and he pulls out of her grasp, frowning.

Katara steps between them. "What we need to find out is, why are we here?"

"It has to be to do with our Avatar," Aang says. He sighs before suggesting, "If we fuse, we should be able to contact the last Avatar for guidance."

No one voices concern that they won't be able to hold it together, although it crosses all of their minds. Instead, they form Esperite once again. Esperite sits on the ground, crossing all four legs and touching all four hands together in a modified meditative position. "Avatar," they say with eyes closed, "I need your wisdom."

The connection is made. Bending light shapes the former Avatar, a ghostly spirit of pale blue. They have only one set of legs, but three sets of arms, the hands of which rest on their ankles, knees, and on the ground beside them. One hand has a square gem on the back of it, another has a triangular gem. A round gem is on their shoulder and the fourth, a flame shape, is on their forehead. They have only two eyes, but also have two mouths. Esperite looks in awe from the triangular gem they know is Monk Gyatso's to the one on the forehead that belongs to Zuko's great-grandfather.

The elder Avatar smiles, a surprisingly soft expression on their strange face. They speak with the bottom mouth: "Young Avatar. It is good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too, Masters," Esperite says. "So where are we? What is this place?"

After observing their surroundings, the Avatar answers, "I don't know. But I sense there is something else that troubles you."

Esperite grimaces. A shiver travels down their limbs, a tremor trying to shake them apart. "I need to face the Fire Lord, but I'm… not in consensus that I should take his life. I don't know if I can do it without…" Esperite spreads a pair of their hands face-up, a gesture of coming apart.

The Avatar before them looks grave. "In my life," they say, "I tried to show restraint, but it backfired when Fire Lord Sozin took advantage of my restraint and mercy. If I had been more decisive and acted sooner, I could have stopped Sozin and stopped the war before it started. I offer you this wisdom: you must be decisive."

Esperite looks down, feeling no less conflicted.

"This isn't about you," the Avatar reminds them. "This is about the world. Selfless duty calls you to do whatever it takes to protect the world."

"So I don't have a choice," Esperite says. "I have to kill the Fire Lord." They wrap two of their arms around their torso as if sick.

"Young Avatar, only justice will bring peace." For a pause, the conversation seems over. "However," the elder Avatar adds, "that is not to say that only taking a life, will bring justice." Esperite raises their head, their eyebrows pressing in towards the gem on their forehead. They realize that this time, the Avatar has spoken from their higher mouth.

The Avatar looks around once more, observing the hexagonal shell on which they sit and the trees that grow around it. "I regret I have not answered your first question," the high mouth says.

"Huh?"

The Avatar looks at Esperite pointedly. "I do not know, _where we are_. Young Avatar, problems have many solutions, most of which are not immediately obvious. I urge you to remember this: only with _curiosity_ will you find one that is to your liking." Then the Avatar spirit dissipates, its light streaking into the wind.

Esperite stands up, and steps in a circle. "Where _are_ we?" they ask again. In one direction, distant mountains grow closer. Esperite walks to the edge of the island. In front of them, the water ripples with movement. "If it's an animal, it must have a head." Their face becomes determined, and they dive into the water.

* * *

The senior members of the Order of the White Lotus stand with the city of Ba Sing Se before them, and the comet above. Now, with the sky red with fire, it's time to begin. Master Piandao stands aside as Jeong Jeong, King Bumi, Master Pakku, and General Iroh fuse. Two sunstones, one quartz, and one moonstone become opaque and black.

"Ba Sing Se, the Order of the White Lotus is here," the Grand Lotus says. "Here to set you free."

* * *

When the fleet approaches them, Esperite targets the leading airship, unleashing a volley of rocks that curve into its propellers and smash them to bits. That gets the attention of the Phoenix King. He stops firebending, although a wide swath of ground below him is already burning brightly. Now facing the Avatar, the Phoenix King pulls of his cloak and drops it. He rides two bursts of flame to a stone pillar near the one on which Esperite stands. He grins.

"After generations of Fire Lords failed to find you, now the universe delivers you to me as an act of providence," he sneers.

Now that the Phoenix King is close enough for Esperite to see his face, they are unsettled by it. "You're… not Ozai," they say.

"I am the Phoenix King! Supreme ruler of this world!" He spreads his arms wide. The light of the comet reflects off of two gems; one on each of the Phoenix King's shoulders. Esperite's eyes widen and their fists tighten as they recognize the right to be Ozai's and the left, to be Azula's.

Esperite hardens their expression. "Stop this, now," they say. "You have the power to end it here."

"You are right. I do have the power. I have all the power in the world!"

Esperite drops into a battle stance as the Phoenix King roars a towering flame up into the sky. The Phoenix King strikes the ground with his fist, and a wave of fire radiates outward, like a pond's ripple but in licking flames. Esperite jumps over it, and as they land, crouch and touch their hands to the pillar on which they stand. They draw up the top slice of the pillar with earthbending, turn it in the air, and launch it with a swift strike from their feet. The Phoenix King doges it, catching himself in the air with jets of fire. Esperite makes their limbs the spokes of a wheel summoning a curving arc of fire at the same time the Phoenix King targets them with his own blast. The collision is a percussive explosion that throws both fusions back.

The line of airships has reached the shore of the Earth Kingdom, and begins to rain fire down on the forest by the sea. Esperite cringes as the trees are transformed into so many candles, glowing orange.

The Phoenix King fires at Esperite once again, and they backflip, creating a current of wind that dissipates the blast. They draw up rocks to fire at the Phoenix King, but he deflects them easily.

"You're weak!" the Phoenix King laughs. Esperite deflects his blasts of fire with air, but the Phoenix King is backing them up against a pillar of rock. This formation has a waterfall tumbling down its face; the water sprays cool against Esperite's back. They brace two of their hands against the rock behind them, hold the other two in front of them defensively.

"You do not deserve to exist in this world," the Phoenix King taunts. He smirks, and splits- Ozai and Azula stand in identical forms, their target backed against a wall. "Prepare to die!" they both yell, and strike.

In the blink of an eye, Esperite splits in two: Opal and their complement, Iolite, the purple fusion of a sunstone and moonstone. Opal steps back as Iolite bends the waterfall around the both of them. A loud hiss marks the evaporation of water into steam. When the fireblasts have been dealt with, Iolite changes direction and flows the water the other way, directly into Azula's chest. It knocks her off the pillar on which she stood and sends her tumbling towards the ground down below. She slows her fall with a burst of blue fire. Iolite shares a nod with Opal, then jumps down to meet Azula on the ground.

Ozai roars with anger and blasts fire from his fist. Opal earthbends rocks into a shield that encircles them, blocking the flames that Ozai levels at it from the left, right and center. Sweat drips down Opal's face as they hold it together.

Below, Azula rises to her feet, taking a stance that lacks her usual precision. Iolite lands near her, and raises their own hands.

"Why don't we settle this just you and me, brother?" Azula suggests as they circle each other. "Lose the peasant. Agni Kai!"

"No," Iolite refuses simply.

Azula snarles and throws her hands forward, creating a blue jet of fire that races towards Iolite. Iolite brings their hands together, countering Azula's flames with a wave of red. Again and again, their fires meet in the middle of the field of battle, bathing both of them in intense heat.

Opal wipes their brow, still maintaining a sphere of rock around themself.

"Come on out, little child!" they can hear Ozai saying. "You can't hide in there forever!" An intense, sustained blast of fire begins to sear against the rock shield.

Opal takes a deep breath and creates a sphere of air, expanding it larger and larger until it bursts through the shield, spinning pieces of rock in its currents and drawing fire into it. It grows large enough that Ozai must jump back or be caught in the rocks and flames. He retreats to a further pillar.

Azula braces her hands on her knees, beginning to wear out.

"No lighting today?" Iolite asks. "What's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?"

"Oh, I'll show you lighting," Azula growls, drawing her fingers through the air. Electric blue sparks become streaks of buzzing energy that trail after her fingertips. Azula releases the lighting directly towards Iolite.

Iolite catches it on their fingers, draws it down into their stomach, and pulls the energy back up into their other hand. They send the bolt of lighting back in the direction it came.

Azula dives the ground to avoid it, landing on her elbow and hissing in pain.

Iolite raises their arms and begins to bend the waterfall of the pillar above, drawing more and more water from it until they control a vast wave. With a sweep of their arms they let it crash over Azula, and, with a precise movement, they freeze it, everywhere but around her face. Azula struggles and screams, but can't move more than her head. Iolite raises their eyes to the tops of the pillars, where Ozai and Opal can still be seen fighting.

Ozai and Opal are regarding each other, both breathing heavily, when Iolite rides a jet of red flames up to their level and lands beside Opal. Ozai scowls when he realizes that Azula has lost. Opal smiles wearily and holds out their hand. Iolite takes it, and they refuse. The Avatar stands tall once more.

Esperite bends all four elements around them in a sphere of wind and water and rocks and flame. The fire blasts that Ozai directs at them have no effect. Ozai must protect himself from chunks of earth and blasts of water while Esperite steadily approaches him. Esperite's feet touch down and, finally, the Avatar and the Fire Lord stand on the same pillar.

"Fire Lord Ozai," Esperite intones, "you and your forefathers have devastated the balance of this world, and now, you shall pay the ultimate price!" They draw all the elements they bend into a single spire and raise it above them, aiming it at Ozai's face. They stop it, inches from him.

"But not like this," Esperite says. They drop their arms, and water and rocks fall from the air.

"Even with all the power in the world, you are still weak!" Ozai sneers, raising his arms to attack again. Unflinchingly, Esperite earthbends a wall of rock up and around each of Ozai's wrists, trapping his hands.

"I am not weak," Esperite says. "I just found another solution."

Esperite puts one of their hands on Ozai's forehead, a second on his chest, and holds the other two in front of themself in meditative position. They close their eyes.

The lion turtle told Esperite that in order to bend another's energy, their own spirit must be unbendable. Esperite's spirit is that of four, twisted together and supporting each other, stronger than any one could be. The light that spills from Esperite's mouth, eyes, and gems overtakes that which radiates from Ozai's. Then the light is gone.

Esperite leans over, taking deep breaths. Ozai, released from the rocks that bound him, falls to his knees, exhausted. He grips his right shoulder with his opposite hand and is horrified to find his gem come off in his fingers.

"No, no, no, no, no," he says. His sunstone is in dozens of shards, falling off and leaving his skin unmarked as if it had never been there. Ozai holds the pieces together in his hand, shifting them with his fingers as if he could find the way they fit back together. "What did you do to me?" he asks.

"You're not a gem anymore," Esperite says. "You can't use your firebending to hurt or threaten anyone else, ever again."


End file.
